McLaren Project 4/6

[Scale-Master]

I softened the front section with alcohol and was able to scrape much of it off, then I hand sanded it smooth. Some of the red on the rear peeled off too, with a good amount of forceful persuasion. What had peeled off easily was only on the surface. There's still a lot of paint under it.
There is good news as the cracks near the windshield were in the paint, not the plastic.

[Scale-Master]

The sides/rear are a different situation.
I softened the red a little with more alcohol and tried to scrape it off. The right side was always more troublesome during the curing issues than the left for some reason. It is many layers deep and rather nasty.

[Scale-Master]

I decided to try brake fluid. I am not a big fan of using it for stripping due to the damage it can do to some plastics, but even the 100% denatured alcohol wasn't cutting through the older paint. I mummified the body with wetted paper towels and let it soak like this for about half a day. The red bleeding out looked like a good sign.

[Scale-Master]

Much of the layers of red and white were clearly softened by the brake fluid, but nothing sloughed off as hoped. I scraped the gummy-ish paint off and gave it a good water rinse before wet sanding for the better part of the afternoon. I should have taken a photo, but I went straight to sanding since it was still almost as nasty looking as the earlier photos. Overall I am pleased with the progress.

[Scale-Master]

A couple rounds of spot repairs in addition to the cracked areas at the cockpit, and a coat of white primer, and it looks ready for some TS-26 White.




By 2011 I had a pretty good idea of what the cause of the issue was, and after a dozen years I'm sure that I have figured out the root issue from working with the same paints in different applications and combinations on several other projects since I started this one. Those later ones all turned out well and have proven to be stable long term as well.
The fluorescent red cures at a much different rate than other TS colors and the clear. Yes, it dries in about the same time frame and even feels dry to the touch, but it takes a lot longer to fully cure than both most other TS colors and the clear. While the clear also takes longer to cure than many TS colors, if it is applied to the fluorescent red before the red is fully cured, it can shrink and pull the softer red paint out of shape as it did on this body. The process that has worked long term every time for me is simple, use a urethane clear coat instead of the lacquer clear and let the red dry for a good bit longer than other TS colors.

[Scale-Master]

After a few coats of TS-26 Pure White have had plenty of time to dry, it's time to start masking…

The red was built up until it more or less matched the other parts painted the same color a decade or so ago. (Yes, it is the same batch of paint.)

This looks acceptable. Now it will sit and cure for at least a month, maybe two, maybe more.